The present invention relates to an apparatus for transporting spinning tubes supported on tube support members for use in supplying empty spinning tubes to, and removing fully-wound spinning tubes from, a textile spinning machine of the type having multiple spinning stations.
Spinning tube transport apparatus of the aforementioned type are used in particular in textile spinning machines having spinning stations along each of two opposite sides thereof, e.g., conventional ring spinning machines. Typically, such a transport apparatus utilizes a driven transport arrangement which travels alongside the spinning stations and includes a plurality of spaced transport members for engaging and transporting therewith support members, e.g., peg trays, on which spinning tubes are supported, thereby to align the tube support members in spaced relation corresponding to the spacing between the spindles of the spinning stations.
West German Offenlegungsschrift DE 37 12 027 A1 discloses a spinning tube transport apparatus wherein transport elements are provided along each opposite side of the spinning machine and are driven in a reciprocating back-and-forth motion. The transport elements are provided with suitable means for engaging peg tray-type spinning tube support members only when moving in one direction, by which the spinning tube support members are aligned with the spinning stations in proper position for an automatic bobbin replacement operation. A U-shaped guide track extends about the spinning machine for movement of the support members along the track, the opposite sides of the track being connected at one end of the machine to mechanisms for infeed and discharge of the tube support members to and from the track.
West German Patent Application No. P 38 12 342.8 discloses a spinning tube transporting apparatus wherein a transport arrangement in the form of an endless metal band or belt is directed about suitable guide or deflection rollers in a generally upstanding relation to travel along each opposite side of a spinning machine. The upstanding transport belt is adapted to engage and transport peg tray-type tube support members slidably along a guide track. In conventional fashion, each peg tray has a main plate-like body from which a central support pin extends upwardly for mounting of a spinning tube on the peg tray. The peg trays are aligned by the transport arrangement at spacings corresponding to the spacing of the spindles of the spinning machine, making it possible to exchange empty spinning tubes for fully-wound spinning tubes on the machine spindles by means of an automatic tube replacement apparatus.
In German Patent Application No. P 39 18 876.0, a spinning tube transporting apparatus is disclosed which utilizes a driven transport arrangement having carrier elements affixed thereto to serve as support receptacles for tube-supporting peg trays. The transport arrangement includes guide elements which travel slidably in a guide track extending along the longitudinal sides of the spinning machine, the guide track having a guiding edge along which the support pins of the peg trays travel.